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CIVIC HERALD
HR 1366 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

In plain language: The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act amends existing federal mining laws to clarify the fees and regulations surrounding mining claims and mill sites. It creates a new "Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund" in the U.S. Treasury, which will be funded by fees collected from certain mill site claims. These funds are specifically designated to clean up and restore abandoned hardrock mines across the country.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—The text names no population count; it affects an indeterminate set of hardrock mining-claim holders and the agencies that administer the program, but states no number.
Fiscal magnitude—no CBO estimate published
Reach42provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Federal lands & resources−52Pollution & developmentPublic works+22

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • hardrock mining operatorsMining-claim holders gain the ability to locate as many mill sites as are reasonably necessary for an approved plan of operations, including on land where they already hold a mining claim, removing the prior numeric limit on mill sites.provisional
  • communities near abandoned hardrock minesA dedicated Treasury fund is created and the Secretary may spend it without yearly appropriations to carry out the existing abandoned-hardrock-mine cleanup program.provisional

Who it burdens

  • Department of the InteriorThe Secretary of the Interior is tasked with administering the new fund and its expenditures and continues to regulate the expanded mill-site activity under existing law.provisional

Who backs it

  • mill-site claim holdersThe yearly claim-maintenance fees these holders already pay on the new mill sites are redirected into the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund to pay for cleanup.provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Lets the holder of a mining claim set up as many mill sites on federal public land as are reasonably necessary for an approved mining plan, even where the law's existing mill-site limits would otherwise apply, and even on land where the holder already keeps a mining claim.

    Sec. 2(a)(c)(2), (c)(5)provisional

  2. Caps each single mill site at 5 acres, says a mill site gives the holder no rights to the minerals under it, and bars these mill sites from ever being bought outright (patented) from the government.

    Sec. 2(a)(c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(7)provisional

  3. States the new mill-site rule does not weaken the government's power to regulate mining or override land protections, leaving in force existing safeguards such as the rules for wilderness, endangered species, historic sites, and land withdrawn or closed to mining.

    Sec. 2(a)(c)(8)provisional

  4. Creates a dedicated Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund in the U.S. Treasury to hold money for cleaning up old, abandoned hardrock mines.

    Sec. 2(b)(1)provisional

  5. Routes the yearly claim-maintenance fees that holders pay on these new mill sites into the cleanup fund.

    Sec. 2(b)(2)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Mar 17, 2026Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 357.
  2. Dec 18, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Dec 18, 2025On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 219 - 198 (Roll no. 358). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H6044)
  4. Dec 18, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 219 - 198 (Roll no. 358).
  5. Dec 18, 2025On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 205 - 213 (Roll no. 357).
  6. Dec 16, 2025Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 951 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4776, H.R. 1366, H.R. 845, H.R. 3616, H.R. 3632 and H.R. 4371. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4776, under a structured rule and H.R. 1366, H.R. 845, H.R. 3616, H.R. 3632, and H.R. 4371 under a closed rule. The resolution provides one motion to recommit on each bill.
  7. Nov 25, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-386.
  8. Nov 25, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-386.
  9. Sep 17, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 17.
  10. Feb 14, 2025Introduced in House
  11. Feb 14, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 23 days ago

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